Outline

The LLQ is the one where historically - and perhaps logically
- legitimacy originates and does for a long time
linger. This is the realm of traditional authority, mainly
exercised by a person with some form of exceptional reputation
- a king, a religious leader. By contrast, the secularization
of power depends upon its capacity to impose
(self )-interest as its legitimating force, one to be regulated
through positive law, thus moving into the URQ,
where law is essential but not self-validating. “Rule of
law” depends upon processes by which laws are seen as
byproducts of successful resolution of conflicting interests.
The golden age of the legislature was the 19th century,
and although it continues as a source of legitimation of
control, it became only one of several sources of law,
including administration, the return of the judiciary
and plebiscite based on mass opinion and referenda.
This draws us into the LRQ, the populist and most
volatile source of legitimacy. Polling is the most recent
institution of democracy, after people began to accept
random sampling as a true measure of public opinion,
with media as the main channel for its dissemination. In
the ULQ, state refers to those historical cases, in both
earlier Western and contemporary Middle-Eastern countries,
where religion served as the main ideological apparatus
for establishing a legitimate power. Note that law
constitutes an important aspect of these authoritarian
regimes, as it is a no less important dimension of the
legitimizing process. This quadrant incorporates governments
which work through laws in the modern sense but
rely upon more traditional, even ancient forms of legitimacy
(traditional Jewish, Muslim, Marxist, etc.).